What's Your ONE Thing???

Well, hello there, strangers!

  

I know it has been a long time. I know. But something happens to me when I have free time. I write. I write about my two passions—the Lord (working on my 2nd Bible study) and teaching. 

Why do I have free time?  

Two reasons. 

1. I do not coach a spring sport.  

2. I have a few weeks off from my master’s classes (which I will finish this summer—If you could see me, you’d know I’m doing the happy dance about that!!!!) 
3. 
   

So...my passion for teaching has prompted me to hop back on here and write a little something for the blog.

  

Every year that I have been teaching, I choose one thing that I want to work on over the summer. One thing that I want to improve in my teaching.  

Why? 

I’m the type of person that always wants to improve, to continue to learn and grow, to be the best that I can be. By choosing just one thing, it makes it a manageable goal that doesn’t eat away at my summer vacation and it also makes it easy to focus on implementing in the new school year. I know in the past, I’ve blogged about “too many great ideas syndrome.” You know...when you see so many wonderful things and you try to implement them all and you don’t end up executing any of them well. 

My “one thing” has been writing...enter Writing Workshop which completely transformed my writing instruction and gave my littles the confidence to be authors! 

My “one thing” has been small group instruction...enter Daily 5 which allowed me to structure my literacy block in a way to meet the needs of all learners, engage my students who were not in my group in authentic reading and writing tasks, and prompted me to make time for one-on-one conferencing. 

My “one thing” has been small group math...enter math rotations which involved a whole group mini-lesson followed by small groups with targeted instruction and meaningful activities to review, practice, and extend math. 

My “one thing” has been Whole Brain Teaching...that actually took two summers! First, I added attention getters and teaching strategies. Then, I added the Super Improver wall. 

I could go on...but those are some big things that I researched and studied to implement in my classroom. Self-directed professional development really is the best kind! 

This year in my role as the reading specialist, my “one thing” is to create a stream-lined process for gathering information and diagnostic testing of students who are referred to me, progress monitoring, and communicating that information to teachers and parents. I’ve got a few ideas...I just need to do some research, see how things are done in other schools, and form a plan that works for me. 

What’s your “one thing”? 

More than Five for Friday! ;-)

Hey there!

When I sat down to start my Five for Friday post, I couldn't believe all the pictures that I had to share. We had a great first FULL week back after Christmas break, and I just have some fun things to show you--including two success stories that are making my teacher heart happy!

1

This year I implemented the Whole Brain Teaching Super Improver Wall. I was a little nervous to move away from the things I had used before, but I have been very happy with it. The best part is the kids are LOVING it! They get so excited when someone moves to another level.

Notice the white paper behind the yellow name cards.

When a student gets to yellow, they take a picture with two friends. I let them choose a silly or smiley picture. Then I print it and we put it on the board. They don't get to see the picture until they reach the next level. :-) Then we turn it around and post it in the classroom for all to see. This brings me to my first success story...

This little guy right here...he is my little autistic friend. He is absolutely brilliant, but as you might expect, struggles with social skills and appropriate behavior. He has been doing wonderfully! One day after another day of smileys on his behavior chart, he said, "I have never been this good before at any school!" Insert heart emoji right here. ;-)

2

This is another one of my special friends. When I saw her  so focused on her fluency passage during read to self, I just had to snap a picture!

She has made amazing strides since Kindergarten! Really I can't even begin to explain her whole story, but she has improved so much. It has been so neat to watch her gain confidence and grow academically and socially this year. Insert another heart emoji here.

3

It was nice to get back into our routines this week! The kids especially love Daily 5 on Fridays because during "Time with Teacher" we play games. These are the Connect 4 and I Have...Who Has...? games that we made to go with Wonders.

4

This is why I love MobyMax!

This little smartie pants is practicing 4-digit addition while in class, we have only been working on 2-digit addition. I do my whole group lesson as usual and then use MobyMax during our math rotations.

5

Our stories in reading this week all had to do with music and instruments, so I challenged the kids to make an instrument at home and bring it to school on Friday.

These six students took the challenge. The creativity was impressive!

I wish you could see their faces..I really think I'll ask parents to sign a picture release next year.

6

I narrowed it down from 9, so you can thank me later. Ha!

My Bible study, There's a Fly in my Tea!, is now available directly from me! It is also available for pre-order at Amazon here. If you would like an autographed copy from me, I'm selling them for $10 each (retail price is $13.95) plus shipping. Just hop over to my website and use the contact form so we can work out the details.

I've been selling copies at my church, and  I came to services on Wednesday to find this REAL fly on my poster. My pastor is such a prankster! LOL! 

 Have a great weekend! 

Stay safe if you are in the icy areas...guess it is coming for us!

Geometry - WBT Style

Howdy! I hope you had a great weekend. I'm late posting--and I even knew my blog topic for days! Oh well, hope you enjoy these videos. ;-)

Last week, we kicked off our geometry unit by studying polygons, 2D shapes, and lines. I really enjoy some of the "mirror with words" (Whole Brain Teaching) actions that I use with the kids and so do they. Thankfully, I have our school secretary's cutie in class this year and she agreed to let her teach you a few of our sayings and actions.

Take a look:

Polygons...

Vertical, Horizontal, and Diagonal Lines...

Parallel Lines...

She was a little nervous, but she did great! Such a cutie! Love having her help me out before and after school sometimes. 

If you have trouble viewing the videos on the blog, try our YouTube channel.

Have a great week!

Five for Friday - Operation Classroom Setup Style!

Well, the last week of July has come and gone...this is typically the week when I get my classroom all setup so I can relax a bit for the coming weeks (you know...the calm before the storm). 

And honestly, I tried. 

I spent four days there.

And I have made progress. 

Some progress.

But I am far from done.

I seem to be moving slower than usual.

I blame the shoulder surgery recovery. :(

Anyway, that means I do have some fun pictures for you this week.

So let's get started!

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs again!

1

Dear Mr. Maintenance Man...thank you for the new ceiling tiles. They look awesome, however, this is what I call a half-job in my house and/or classroom. :-( 

I have no idea what all these cords and wires are, but I guess I get to figure it out. #Annoyed

2 

So my slow progress also had to do with our new reading curriculum. It took me a whole day to purge my old files and organize my new materials. I was so excited the big, awkward cards actually fit in my filing system though! 

3

If you follow us on Facebook, you know I shared this post from Kristen with Easy Teaching Tools. It inspired me to make these copy clips. #Genius #SaveTheStickyNotes

I'll makes some with numbers needed after final enrollment, but for the most part this is done. #TeacherTimeSaver

4 

 Remember the post about my teaching failures? Some of my mistakes were due to jumping into things. 
 
Well, Whole Brain Teaching is something that I have eased into and feel pretty confident that it fits my teaching style. I have incorporated parts of WBT into my teaching for the last few years.

This year, I'm using the Super Improver Wall for the very first time. Here's how it turned out:

Yes, right now I'm only planning on 14 students. With one class per grade level, my class sizes fluctuate from year to year. The most I've had is 23. If I don't get any new kiddos, this will be my smallest class. It is nice, but makes me worried for our little K-2 building... Remember if you want the editable name cards free, you can grab them in our TPT store.

 5

WBT Power Pix Grids

Speaking of WBT, my most engaging lessons are ones where I have an action for the concept I'm teaching, but I struggled to always come up with an action. 

As I browsed the WBT website for more information on the Super Improver Wall and Genius Ladder (the two things I knew I wanted to add this year), I stumbled onto Power Pix. 

If you are a WBTer, you're probably thinking, "Duh!" 
I had no idea! 
WBT has done all the work of coming up with actions for you. Seriously.

Check out their website if you are interested.

Now, I'm trying to convince myself that I do NOT need to go to the classroom on a Saturday in the summer.

I do NOT need to go.

I do NOT need to go.

:-)

A Little B2S, a Freebie, and a Little Fun...

Hello there!

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs for Five for Friday to give you some random pictures from my week.

1

I don't know about you, but I have to ease in to working in my room. I typically stop by a few times and look at the mess that awaits me before I actually decide to dive in. Ha!

I stopped by one day last week and worked for a just a bit. My daughter helped with some bulletin boards (so thankful--could not do them due to the shoulder surgery).

This is the bulletin board across the hall. I typically choose something I can keep up all year, so  I'll be posting student work here.

2

In preparation for starting the Super Improver Wall, I'm rereading my Whole Brain Teaching book. I have added several elements of WBT over the last couple of years and love them all (so do my students). I was hesitant to start the Super Improver Wall because it seemed like a lot of work to me. 

Last year, I realized my management system was already a lot of work and I ended up abandoning parts of it and talking individual goals with students anyway. So this year, I'm keeping it simple with the Super Improver Wall--no other "fluff," in line with my core beliefs, and focuses on individual improvements!

This quote is the motivation for me to go for it:

 

I have found a ton of free Super Improver Wall headers on TPT, but what I couldn't find was name cards like I wanted. 

 

I wanted editable so I could type in the names, and I wanted the visual of how many stars they needed to earn to move to the next level. 

That means a freebie for you! 

If you snag it, please be so kind as to leave feedback. :-)

If you don't use the Super Improver Wall, I think you could use them for punch cards as well.

3

I first saw these craft keepers in April, and I knew I had to have them to organize my "I have...who has...?" games and task cards.

I was thrilled to see them marked down at Michael's and a coupon that could be applied. I picked up two of these for $16 each! 

I plan to use one for reading and one for math. LOVE it!

4

We didn't get to take our home missions trip to MN, but since the my husband and kids were off work we took a quick trip to Oklahoma City. 

We went to Riversport Adventures. 

I was seriously bummed that I couldn't participate with them (that shoulder again), so we will have to go back next year. Although, I will avoid the high stuff (yikes)!

5

My birthday is on Monday, so I scheduled a Stitch Fix to get some back-to-school clothes. I've told you before...I hate shopping, so paying extra is worth it to me AND it gets me out of my comfort zone (as I am fashion challenged). :-)

I was so excited to get it early, and it is definitely a 5/5 so I get the 25% discount too! Happy Birthday to me!

 

Not pictured: a necklace. 

I LOVED this fix! I probably wouldn't have tried on any of this if I were out shopping on my own, but I was able to put together quite a few outfits with these pieces plus what I already own. 

Disclaimer: If you use the Stitch Fix links in this post, I will receive a $25 referral credit (and I thank you!).

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! 

My plan is to bombard you with classroom pictures next week (if I can get in gear). I love to be set up in July, so when I go back in August I can focus on lessons and paperwork...

Whole Brain Teaching

Ok, who does whole brain teaching?  I started incorporating some of it into my classroom a couple of years ago.  I know that there is a lot more that I could be doing with it so I was wondering what all you did with it if you use it.  Here is what I have done so far:

1.  Ready, Set Go!-I love this one because the kids have to listen to all of the directions first.  I found that in the past when I was giving directions they would start doing the first direction before I finished with all the directions.  The kids now listen to all the directions and then I say Ready....their response is Set Go and then they follow the directions.  

2.  Hands and Eyes-Whenever I want the kids attention and want them listening to me, I simply say hands and eyes.  They try to beat my by putting their hands together and eyes on me before I finish saying hands and eyes.

3.  Teach-OK!-I have kids with shoulder buddies and one is peanut butter and one is jelly.  I ask a question and I call out either peanut butter or jelly (whichever one I want to talk first) then I do an action like 3 claps and say teach in a certain voice (maybe a whisper).  Then the kids repeat my action and say OK in the same voice that I did.  After they do this then they talk to their shoulder buddies.

4.  Oh Switch!-When the kids are talking with their shoulder buddy and I want the other kid to talk, I say Oh Switch and they repeat Oh Switch and the other kid will start talking.

5.  Oh Yeah/No Way- I ask a yes or no question and the kids respond together with an answer of Oh Yeah or No Way.

I know that there are a lot of other things that can be done with Whole Brain Teaching.  If you have some other things that you are doing, please share with me because I am wanting to incorporate some more of it into the classroom.

Have a great day!

Seriously Random Five for Friday!!! :-)

Happy Friday! 

I'm linking up with Doodlebugs again.

Popping in for a quick post before I go to a football game. My kids play in the pep band. No football players here--my son runs cross country and my daughter plays volleyball.

1. This first one may be the only teaching related picture I have this week...so sorry! I promise we did in fact have a week full of educational activities. Maybe we were so busy and engaged in learning that I forgot to take pictures...maybe. :-)

We are starting this book study at school. 

I'm so excited! I started doing some Whole Brain Teaching methods last year in my second grade classroom and I love it. I'm anxious to learn more about it so I can get better at using it. 

I know that it works with those challenging kids (as the title suggests). This last week, I worked really hard to use some of the methods in music (why I hadn't thought of that before, I have no idea) with THE class. We did "mirror with words" a lot. I used it to teach the key words BEAT and RHYTHM. It worked so well that I am scrambling to find more key words to teach in music. We also did many "ten finger woos" and they ate it up. THE class had the best week in music since I've been teaching them.

2. Last Saturday, my husband and son entered their cars in a local car show. Both of the cars are "unfinished" but I'm so glad they finally entered (hubby has been talking about it for years...like 18 years). He has a 1970 Chevelle with an extreme engine (see below).

My son has a Camaro that he hopes will one day look like the old Bumblebee off of Transformers.

3. I may have sent this picture to one of my K-State fan friends just to show off my new shirt. 

That friend may have responded with:

"Thanks for ruining my computer. I threw up all over the keyboard when I saw the big Jayhawk!"

LOL!

Just to be clear, I do not watch football. Just basketball so I have no idea how the Jayhawks are doing right now.

Also, I cheer on all Kansas schools (even the Wildcats) unless they are playing my Jayhawks.

4. Speaking of Jayhawks, I ordered these nail wraps from Jamberry. Can't wait to sport them during basketball season this year!

 5. And finally, I'm definitely in school-mode. If we are home--meaning no cross country meet, volleyball match, church activity, or something else--I am in bed by 9:00. It is helping me stay dedicated to my morning workouts though! ;-)

Well, that's all I've got for this week! Have a great weekend!

P.S. Bex at Reading and Writing Redhead is having a birthday celebration giveaway. Kristi and I are donating toward the prizes. Be sure to check it out!